Harish Rawat to resume office as Chief Minister

New Delhi: Sacked Uttarakhand chief Minister Harish Rawat is all set to return as Chief Minister of the hill State after the Supreme Court today approved the result of Tuesday’s floor test in the State Assembly.
“Rawat gets 33 votes out of 61 in the floor test. No irregularities were found in the voting. 9 MLAs could not vote due to their disqualification,” an apex court bench today said and ordered immediate revocation of President’s rule to enble Rawat to resume office as Chief Minister.

The Apex Court decision comes as a huge embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Modi Government which had shown undue haste in dismissing the Rawat Government and imposing President’s Rule in Uttarakhand after 9 rebel Congress MLAs had been disqualified under the anti-defection law by the Speaker as they had defied the party whip and voted aganst the Appropriation Bill in the State Assembly. The rebel MLAs had contested the Speaker’s decision and approached the High Court. After the High Court upheld the Speaker’s decision, the nine MLAs approached the Supreme Court which decided not to interfere with the High Court order in this case.